The Buzz

For this latest issue of CR Fashion Book, Carine Roitfeld tapped Bruce Weber to capture Lady Gaga, draped in lots and lots of tulle. The first cover shows the singer shrouded in white, her head peeking through what appears to be a hole in a tulle skirt. The other shows Gaga with runny mascara, messy hair, a rock band T-shirt, bustier and black tulle, as she intensely stares off into the distance. Our forum members were mostly displeased. Not just by the cover shots, but by the appearance of Gaga in the first place.

Image: CR Fashion Book

“This was the big surprise? So underwhelming,” mepps said. Benn98 couldn’t wrap his head around why Gaga nabbed the big feature, saying, “Surprising choice. The first cover is better than the second, but I’m so over Lady Gaga and she’s actually been keeping a low profile. Why not give the cover to Taraji?” Thatsfierce agreed with Benn98 on the Taraji sentiment: “Gaga is so irrelevant in this time. I don’t like. Taraji should be on the cover.”

“I love Carine to bits and I appreciate what she’s been trying to do with her magazine, but Lady Gaga? She couldn’t have picked someone more of non-factor if she tried,” arlekindearrabal wrote. Madzedre agreed, saying simply, “Her time is over.”

LastNight, however, had some insight into why Carine may have gone with Gaga this time around. “Surprised that people think Gaga is a strange choice for this, she’s friendly with Carine and Stephen Gan. Plus she’s had quite a big year: a jazz album and tour with Tony Bennett, a Grammy win, that amazing Oscars performance, her engagement and her upcoming role on American Horror Story – all stuff worthy of a cover story to me.”

Spike was simply over the entire debate, coming to Gaga’s defense. “As predicted, the reactions to Gaga are as laughable now as they were when they were all decrying how ‘irrelevant’ she was six or seven years ago, too. Clearly she’s just SO irrelevant that the people whose opinion actually effects anything – aka the editors, photographers, designers, creative directors, awards show organizers, music producers, television creators etc etc – still seek her out to work with. Honestly, I wish I could be that irrelevant.”

Kerry Washington is the star of hit network television primetime show Scandal, an activist, a mother and also a style darling, so as the covers for the September issues trickled out, we couldn’t help but wonder where her face was amongst the several other celebrities covering big-name glossies. Well, now we have our answer. Self magazine tapped the actress for its latest issue and the forums seem to be pleased with the results.

Image: SELF

Benn98 was quite taken aback by the stunning star’s shots. “I’m dying here, these shots are so hot!! I think this could possibly be her best magazine shoot yet; the smile, of course, looks awkward, but it’s still great,” he wrote.

Nataliaaplle was just glad they were able to properly capture Washington’s exquisite beauty. “Finally they captured what she truly looks like. Love the cover and the photos inside.”

Inside, Washington poses on pilates barres, her slim, graceful body stretching, twisting and undulating into beautiful poses. Of course, the subject of Washington’s post-baby body came up (as it often does for actresses) and while she admits her physique isn’t what it used to be, she’s definitely not complaining. “A few weeks ago, my manager asked: ‘Do you feel like you’re back? I feel like you’re back.’ She meant it as a total compliment, but we had this great conversation where I was like, ‘You know what? I try really hard not to use that language, because it’s not about going backward in life… I’ve been really focused on not being ‘back’ to anything, but being the best version of myself right now. My body is the site of a miracle now. I don’t want to be pre-miracle.”

MasterCard is making the case for more selfies with a new technology that could revolutionize the way we mobile shop. The credit card company is developing “Selfie Pay,” which is exactly what you think it is. If you make a purchase on your smartphone, the technology will allow you to take a selfie in order to verify your identity. Facial recognition software will size up your selfie against an image MasterCard will already have on file to be sure that you’re the one making the purchase.

The technology is being tested with First Tech Credit Union employees with fake accounts and fake money, but if the method of payment winds up becoming a thing, we think it would make a great premise for a second edition of Kim Kardashian’s selfie book. Imagine – Kim’s payment selfie on one page, the next, the corresponding expensive things she bought with said selfie. You’re welcome in advance, Ms. Kardashian-West.

Carine Roitfeld is launching CR Men’s Book, the brother to her Fashion Book publication and we’re already excited for the big reveal. Buzzy male model Lucky Blue Smith was tapped to cover the inaugural issue, but a men’s magazine would be nothing without a little eye candy and Carine Roitfeld looked to none other than Kate Upton to fill that role.

A photo posted by CR Fashion Book (@crfashionbook) on Aug 17, 2015 at 1:38pm PDT

The voluptuous model appears in a spread where she poses with various men as “lovers, friends and partners.” Roitfeld says she chose Upton to “[represent] different types of beauty and the sexual fantasies of all men.” Sounds difficult to really showcase “different types” of beauty when you’re using the same person for each shot – especially when one can argue that person represents a specific type of beauty, one that is already pervasive in our society while others go overlooked. But we guess when you’re blonde, busty and working with Carine Roitfeld, anything is possible.

Roitfeld calls Upton the “Marilyn of today,” so it will be interesting to see how she will transform such a mainstream look into the “different types” of beauty she mentions. For now, we have a sneak peek of how Roitfeld will handle the model. CR Fashion Book posted a teaser image to Instagram in which we see a profile of Upton clad in a slip and a silky blouse with an olive green shirt tied around her waist.

The FDA just approved the use of the medication Addyi, which people are calling the “female Viagra.” The pill is supposed to help boost women’s sex drive and it is unique in that it addresses the issue of improving desire, as opposed to actual Viagra which just helps guys with their erections and not their libido in general.

The launch of the drug has been fraught with controversy from the jump. Supporters of the pill chided the drug market for not providing options for women with libido issues, while others criticized drug companies for pushing the issue under the guise of women’s equality. But the drug has been approved and now there is an option for women who are finding they’ve been feeling less than randy lately. The drug works “by changing the balance of certain brain neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin,” according to the Times. Side-effects include “low blood pressure, fainting, nausea, dizziness and sleepiness.” Addyi’s label also warns that women who drink alcohol should not take it “since that can increase the risk of severely low blood pressure and fainting.” So if you’re willing to forgo booze (or risk a fainting spell) in the name of good sex, the option is yours.

Still, you’ll have to wait another 18 months before you see any awkward Addyi commercials, complete with women staring out onto the ocean, wearing comfy cashmere sweaters and having romantic beach picnics with their lovers. Sprout Pharmaceuticals, which produces the drug, says it is holding off on radio and TV advertising. As of now, the drug is approved for premenopausal women, though it is looking into getting the green light from the FDA for postmenopausal women and possibly men.

Melissa McCarthy joins the growing chorus of people who think it’s time we do away with the term “plus-size.” The actress and designer chatted with Refinery 29 about her forthcoming Melissa McCarthy Seven7 line and opened up about the limitations of a term that describes the bulk of the American population.

“Women come in all sizes. Seventy percent of women in the United States are a size 14 or above, and that’s technically ‘plus-size,’ so you’re taking your biggest category of people and telling them, ‘You’re not really worthy.’ I find that very strange,” McCarthy said. “I also find it very bad business. It doesn’t make a lot of sense numbers-wise. It’s like, if you open a restaurant and you say, ‘We’re primarily gonna serve people that don’t eat.’ It’s like, what? You would be nuts. Yet, people do it with clothing lines all the time, and no one seems to have a problem with it. I just don’t get why we always have to group everything into a good or bad, right or wrong category. I just think if you’re going to make women’s clothing, make women’s clothing.”

McCarthy also thinks that the way clothing for larger women is segregated in brick-and-mortar locations is alienating. It’s something she wishes to avoid with her own brand and there are several retailers who are just as eager to correct this issue. “I have a couple of very big retailers that I think are going to help me chip away at that in a very meaningful way, and I’m really excited about it. I’m not ready to announce them yet, but they agreed to just put me on the floor. I said, ‘Run the sizes as I make them and let friends go shopping with their friends. Stop segregating women.’ And they said, ‘Okay.’”